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Promoting Sustainable Lives & Communities

Promoting Sustainable Lives & Communities

Section 1 – Overview | Moss Brook Growers This is an attempt to describe in detail everything we have done and everything we continue to do in setting up and running our vegetable growing business. We really hope it’s useful to anyone else thinking of starting a similar project, but… we have to point out some limitations! Much of what’s written is specific to our 21 acre site – a small-holding growing field-scale vegetables – and might not be completely relevant to other sites.It describes just one way of approaching things when, in reality, there are lots of ways to go about growing.And it’s written by inexperienced people! Also, some things have not been included in this write-up because they’re already in our business plan (LINK to attachment) – for example, our approach to marketing, or how we assessed the need / demand of a new veg growing business in our area. Despite all that, we hope this is a useful account. Our aims seemed really straight-forward when we started, as if we didn’t need to write them down.

10 Ways to Prepare for a Post-Oil Society The best way to feel hopeful for the future is to prepare for it. The best way to feel hopeful about our looming energy crisis is to get active now and prepare for living arrangements in a post-oil society. Out in the public arena, people frequently twang on me for being "Mister Gloom’n'doom," or for "not offering any solutions" to our looming energy crisis. So, for those of you who are tired of wringing your hands, who would like to do something useful, or focus your attention in a purposeful way, here are my suggestions: 1. This obsession with keeping the cars running at all costs could really prove fatal. 2. The Monsanto/Cargill model of industrial agribusiness is heading toward its Waterloo. 3. Virtually every place in our nation organized for car dependency is going to fail to some degree. 4. This is the sunset of Happy Motoring (including the entire US trucking system). 5. 6. However, we are going to make less stuff. 7. It was fun for a while. 8. 9. 10. Further Reading:

Centre for Sustainable Community Development Sustainable Community Development (SCD) aims to integrate economic, social and environmental objectives in community development. SCD is based on a consideration of the relationship between economic factors and other community elements such as housing, education, the natural environment, health, accessibility and the arts. SCD has emerged as a compelling alternative to conventional approaches to development: a participatory, holistic and inclusive process that leads to positive, concrete changes in communities by creating employment, reducing poverty, restoring the health of the natural environment, stabilizing local economies, and increasing community control. The SFU Centre for Sustainable Community Development (CSCD), formerly the Community Economic Development Centre, was founded in 1989 and is part of the Faculty of Environment. For more on our perspective, see What is Sustainable Community Development?

Permaculture Magazine - practical solutions for self-reliance | Permaculture Magazine How Would You Like To Grow Into A Tree After You Die? Did you know that you can grow into a tree after you die? Bios Urn is a funerary urn made ​​from biodegradable materials that will turn you into a tree after you die. Inside the urn there is a pine seed, which can be replaced by any other seed or plant, and will grow to remember your loved one. Bios Urn turns death into a transformation and a return to life through nature. When planted, the tree seed is nourished by and absorbs the nutrients from the ashes of your body which are contained inside. Once your remains have been placed into the urn, it can be planted and then the seed germinates and begins to grow. We now have the option of turning cemeteries into forests, which is a little bit less traditional but is far more practical. So which would you prefer; leaving behind a tree or a tombstone? Related:

The Moneyless Manifesto | Mark Boyle Alcohol Can Be a Gas - The DVD lecture | Permaculture & Alcohol Can Be A Gas See David Blume give a riveting 2-hour-and-40-minute presentation about alcohol fuel. The nation’s first driver-owned co-op was organized as a result of this 2004 talk in Marin County, California! This professionally filmed talk starts with the amazing history of alcohol (it was the first auto fuel), and covers a wide range of topics—exploding the common myths about alcohol, giving a primer on how to produce it, and describing car conversion methods, available tax credits, and far, far more. The DVD is indexed, so you can easily find what you are looking for. Quantity Discounts: Help spread the word! 3 or more DVDs earns a 20% discount. 7 or more DVDs earns a 40% discount.

Grow Your Own Mushrooms Related Content Beef Stew Recipe For slow-cooking dishes like this Beef Stew Recipe, add a bouquet garni for enhanced flavor. Two of the best reasons to garden are to grow things you would otherwise have to pay too dearly for at the supermarket and to grow great-tasting things you cannot buy at any price. Home gardeners in China have been growing mushrooms for more than 1,000 years, and it’s finally catching on among North Americans. The surest (and most entertaining) way to grow mushrooms at home is with a mushroom kit, which makes a great winter tabletop project. “It’s fun to cultivate your own mushrooms,” says mushroom expert Thomas Volk, a professor of biology at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. Here’s the best part: You can start with a mushroom kit now, fruit it indoors and use the remains to start a more permanent outdoor colony. A Few Fungi Facts Mushrooms are the fruiting bodies of fungi, which grow quite differently from plants. Oysters Shiitake Wine Caps Portobellos

Five Brilliant Gadgets for the High Tech Prepper The relationship between preppers and technology is somewhat rocky. On the one hand, we recognize that certain technologies could greatly improve our chances of survival, but on the other hand, we know that our society’s reliance on technology makes it very vulnerable to disruption. More importantly, we know that our best chance of survival lies with the knowledge in our heads, rather than the some high-tech gizmo that is prone to failure. Skills don’t suddenly break down when you least expect it, or get lost, run out of batteries, or get left at home. Knowing how to survive with your brain and your bare hands is the most reliable fail-safe, and should be the bedrock of your survival strategy. With that said, once you know the basics of survival, it’s safe to branch out and explore some of those gadgets that might give you the edge you need. Goal Zero Solar Powered Flashlight That is, until somebody actually invented it. Creative Edge Solar-5 USB Charger SteriPEN UV Water Purifier Kindle

SOLUTION LIBRARY | TRADITIONAL AND INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS FOR SUSTAINABLE LIVING

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